Learning and networking opportunities, along with an impressive cohort of expert speakers and workshops, are lined up to come to Hull for the 2017 CIM Northern Conference.

As Hull takes the spotlight in 2017 as UK City of Culture, the seventh annual CIM conference is sharing in the city’s story. The theme of this year’s event, which is sponsored by Elevation Recruitment and based at the Royal Hotel Hull, is the Northern Powerhouse and the opportunities presented by Brexit.

Diane Earles, Network Manager for the CIM, said, “We are pleased to bring our Northern Conference to Hull for the first time as part of the City of Culture celebrations.” The conference will be hosted by radio and TV presenter Andy Crane, two keynote speakers will inspire the delegates and there will be a choice of nine workshops streamed to cater for all levels of marketing experience – those just starting out, practising marketers and those who are more senior. Three workshops for each stream will take place.

The keynote speakers are Nigel Hunter, Marketing and Customer Director at Hull-based Victoria Plum, and Phil Batty, Director of Marketing, Communities and Legacy for Hull City of Culture 2017. Nigel will be discussing “fake news” and what it means to marketers and Phil will be talking about how the UK City of Culture project has helped transform perception of the City and developed a strong brand for Hull as a cultural destination.

The workshops will delve into numerous topics, one of which is place marketing - exploring the importance of ‘place’ as part of a branding and marketing strategy. Led by Peter Andrews, award-winning marketing lecturer at Hull University Business School, the session will explore the role of city branding in the Northern Powerhouse and Hull UK City of Culture, considering what ‘place branding’ really means and how consumer and business perceptions and associations can affect the success of cities. This will also be an opportunity to gain some unique insights from research into Hull as City of Culture 2017. Peter explained, “There is a place war taking place right now, where cities are battling with each other for the same vital resources. Investment, business, talent, visitors and customers are all hotly contested resources, desired by every city. To build a successful Northern Powerhouse, marketers in the North need to be aware of the importance of ‘place’ and how to use and develop their location in order to differentiate and compete in a global market.”

Other workshops include Business Transformation, exploring how organisations can streamline their ways of working to be efficient, effective and compliant, and The Evolving Role of Marketing.

In addition to the conference being held on 11 May, marketers are invited to join CIM the night before for an exclusive Meet with Drinks event at the brand new Humber Street Gallery in the Fruit Market, which has been arranged by Hull City of Culture and one of their principle partners, the University of Hull.

Early bird prices are available until 11 April.

For more information on both events, or to book you place, visit http://www.cim.co.uk/northernconference